Waking the Zed - By ML Katz Page 0,2
and expensively printed literature all made a very good case as well. The researcher had spared no expense when she hired gifted speakers, printed expensive brochures, and arranged for luxury seminars. However, Dr. Klein knew that the real reason that she housed the earthly remains of millionaires and billionaires was because she had convinced them that they were the type of people who deserved another chance. The rules of life and death just did not apply to them. They deserved her care and attention just as they had deserved luxury cars, gourmet food, and power when they walked among the living.
“Dr. Klein, what do you want me to do?” Pamela asked finally, bemused, and more than a bit repelled, by the other woman’s odd behavior. She wondered what distracted her boss this morning. She thought about asking if something was wrong, but decided she really did not want a closer examination of Dr. Klein’s private thoughts at this time.
“The standard diagnostics won’t be necessary,” Ada said pleasantly, “because I worked late last night and ran them myself. I have something else planned for today. It’s quite important, and I’m just trying to make a final decision about which clients to begin with.”
“Does it matter?” Pam said out loud before she could stop herself. Ada just turned back to look at Pamela and smiled. The smile did not reach all the way to her eyes though. Something in Dr. Klein’s expression reminded Pam of a very stern teacher she had endured as a bright but somewhat hyperactive eight year old elementary school student. That thought made Pam dislike the woman all the more.
“Look, Ms. Stone,” Dr. Klein finally said, “I know you don’t approve of my business. You also don’t think that this internship is particularly educational for a pathology doctoral student. I believe you told my engineer, Mr. Sanchez, that you felt like you were babysitting corpses.”
Pamela could not see her own face but she was pretty sure she blushed as she forced herself to remain silent. She certainly felt heat rising to her face. She knew should not have said anything disparaging to the young engineer who kept the company’s machinery running. She had simply thought he had found her attractive. She had believed she was just making clever small talk to flirt a bit. He had even smiled at her when she said it. Pam had no idea that Enrico would take her seriously enough to report her words back to Dr. Klein.
“I find your attitude particularly disappointing,” Dr. Klein continued. “When you interviewed for this position, you seemed quite interested in Future Faith Cryonics. I wanted to give an opportunity to a promising young student. I also find your comments quite disloyal and disrespectful. You need to learn to be more professional.”
“I’m sorry. It was just a joke.” Pam shook her head. “I didn’t mean any disrespect.” She still disliked her boss but the older woman did have a point. She had been happy enough to accept the prestigious internship and the high salary. She did not need to walk around biting the hand that fed her. Chagrined and chastised, Pam waited for her employer to continue.
Pam had never actually been fired from any job before, but she honestly believed she might feel relieved if she was fired from this one. Then she could see if the therapy ranch job was still open and spend the rest of her summer enjoying worthwhile labor making the lives of disabled people happier and more productive. She had time to worry about her resume later. Perhaps any employer she would want to spend a long time working with would think a therapy ranch job, combined with her academic credentials, would make her as worthy as somebody who spent their time monitoring corpses.
“No matter,” Dr. Klein said curtly. “I cannot let this little matter distract me from the tasks I need to accomplish today.” She smoothed her scarf and patted her carefully styled hair as if these actions would help her get her thoughts back on track. “Today I intend to experiment with a new serum, and I want to select two clients who seem particularly hardy.”
Pam practically grimaced as she choked back her thoughts. None of them are hardy. They’re dead. Despite her internal dialogue, she tried to remain quiet and composed as she waited for instructions. She sucked at her lower lip and had to keep herself from biting it. This was difficult because Pam was sure her bitten